After graduating from military school in Zaragoza, Spain, Obiang held multiple positions under the presidency of his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, including director of the notorious Black Beach prison.

In marked contrast to the trend toward democracy in most of Africa, Equatorial Guinea is currently a dominant-party state, in which Obiang's PDGE holds virtually all governing power in the nation and has held all or almost all seats in the legislature since its creation.

Obiang completed his first studies at the Cardenal Cisneros School Group in Ebibeyin and at the La Salle Center in Bata (now the Enrique Nvo Okenve National College), where he obtained a degree in labor administration.

Obiang overthrew his uncle on 3 August 1979 in a bloody coup d'état,[5] and placed him on trial for his actions, including the genocide of the Bubi people, over the previous decade.

[6] He was reelected for a fourth term in 2009 with 97% of the vote, again amid accusations of voter fraud and intimidation,[10] beating opposition leader Plácido Micó Abogo.

[citation needed] Equatorial Guinea's relations with the United States cooled in 1993, after Ambassador John E. Bennett was accused of practicing witchcraft at the graves of 10 British airmen who were killed when their plane crashed there during World War II.

[12][13] In his farewell address, he publicly named the government's most notorious torturers, including Equatorial Guinea's Minister of National Security, Manuel Nguema Mba, another Obiang uncle.

[14] Speaking at the IASPS forum, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Walter H. Kansteiner said, "African oil is of national strategic interest to us, and it will increase and become more important as we move forward.

"[15] In a lengthy state visit from March to April 2006, President Obiang sought to reopen the closed embassy in the US, saying that "the lack of a U.S. diplomatic presence is definitely holding back economic growth.

[18] By October 2006, however, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had raised concerns about the proposal to build the new embassy on land owned by Obiang, whom the United Nations Commission on Human Rights accused of directly overseeing the torture of opponents.

[citation needed] In December 2008, Equatorial Guinea security forces killed a Cameroonian fisherman and abducted two immigrants, Cameroon closed its border in response.

After Francisco Macías Nguema was overthrown and executed by his nephew Teodoro Obiang in 1979, his family fled to Pyongyang, where his three children were raised by the North Korean government.

[citation needed] In 2016, Kim Yong-nam of North Korea visited Equatorial Guinea and held amicable talks with President Teodoro Obiang.

Relations between both nations almost severed again due to debt renegotiation in 1983 and the fact that Equatorial Guinea owed Spain over 6 million Spanish pesetas.

Spain's main exports to Equatorial Guinea include: drinks, furniture and lamps, mechanical equipment, automobiles and trucks, and electronic material.

Massive offshore discoveries over the past decade have boosted oil to about 380,000 barrels per day, ranking Equatorial Guinea behind only Nigeria and Angola among Sub-Saharan African producers.

President Obiang has a net worth of $600 million, according to Forbes, meaning he is easily one of the world’s richest heads of state,[citation needed] while the country's HDI ranks 145th out of 191.

The vast majority of the oil revenue of Equatorial Guinea has been siphoned under the guise of funding large infrastructure projects executed by contractors with ties to President Obiang’s inner circle.

Freedom House, a pro-democracy and human rights NGO, described Obiang as one of the world's "most kleptocratic living autocrats", and complained about the US government welcoming his administration and buying oil from it.

[32] In September 2022, Obiang signed a law which officially abolished the death penalty and declared it an illegal punishment, even though the last execution took place in 2014, eight years earlier.

[33] Although there are no laws against homosexuality in Equatorial Guinea, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) reported "there is evidence that State intimidation of sexually diverse individuals persists."

Many important buildings have a presidential lodge, many towns and cities have streets commemorating Obiang's coup against Macías, and many people wear clothes with his face printed on them.

[41] In an October 2012 interview on CNN, Christiane Amanpour asked Obiang whether he would step down at the end of his current term (2009–2016) since he had been reelected at least four times in his reign of over thirty years.

[45] In 2003, Obiang told his citizenry that he felt compelled to take full control of the national treasury in order to prevent civil servants from being tempted to engage in corrupt practices.

[46] A United States Senate investigation in 2004 found that the Washington-based Riggs Bank had taken $300 million in payments on behalf of Obiang from ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation.

[47] In 2008, the country became a candidate for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – an international project meant to promote openness about government oil revenues – but never qualified and missed the April 2010 deadline.

[53] Obiang filed a libel lawsuit in a French court against an organization he believed was demeaning his image by saying that his government had committed such acts, but the case was dismissed.

[50][54] Obiang has made several pledges to commit to open governance, reduce corruption, increase transparency, and improve the quality of life and uphold the basic freedoms of his citizens.

[50][56] Shortly after the emergence of these allegations, Obiang named his son Equatorial Guinea's deputy permanent delegate to UNESCO, possibly giving him diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

The decision allowed the appointment of an investigating judge and a judicial inquiry into claims that Obiang used state funds to purchase private property in France.